There is a lot to see and photographer during sunrise at Mono Lake. I was there again in late August, driving down from my Sierra campsite well before the first light. The entire process of sunrise offers photographic possibilities, from the first faint eastern light to the eventual direct sunlight on the landscape as early morning colors begin to fade. Over that entire period I worked quickly, moving from subject to subject as the light and conditions changed — focusing on everything from the sky and clouds to the tufa formations, the water, the face of the Sierra Nevada and even some birds.
Shortly before the sun broke over the horizon I found myself at a small east-facing beach with other visitors. My initial photographic targets were offshore tufa towers rising darkly from the water, with distant desert peaks in the background. Looking for a foreground element in some of the compositions I decided to include this shortly tower… and then realized that perhaps it could be a primary subject, too.
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G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.
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